The present invention relates to a teaching device for robots, a robot using the teaching device, and a method of operating a robot.
Conventionally, a robot is operated by manipulating a plurality of keys disposed in a teaching device (teaching pendant).
In this case, the basic keys to operate the robot comprise a plurality of keys including two keys, normal and reverse keys, disposed on the respective operation coordinates of a plurality of operation coordinates, and an operation permit key to prevent accidental operation of the robot due to wrong manipulation of an operation button. In such conventional robot, the operator presses an operation key corresponding to the desired direction while pressing the operation permit key, and thereby, the robot is operated in a continuous operation mode.
In that case, when the robot is widely moved, for example, by dozens of centimeters in distance, it is necessary to operate the robot at a high speed in order to carry out the job efficiently. On the contrary, when the robot approaches an object and is required to make a narrow move, there is a danger of accidents such as collision between the robot and the object if the robot is still operated at a high speed. That is, it is necessary to operate the robot at a low speed.
In order to solve such problem, there is separately provided a speed selector key which can change the speed in multiple stages. The operator is required to frequently change the speed by manipulating the speed selector key.
And, when the robot further approaches the object and is required to make a delicate move, it becomes extremely difficult for the operator to adjust the position of the robot in continuous operation. Accordingly, such delicate adjustment is made, every manipulation of the key, by selecting a mode such as a pitch operation (or pulse jog) mode in which the robot is operated only by a preset moving amount.
In that case, when specially accurate positioning is needed, the preset moving amount in the above pitch operation is set to about 0.1 mm. However, when the robot is moved by 10 mm in a state of such setting, it is necessary to manipulate the operation key as many as 100 times.
In order to avoid such frequent manipulation of the operation key, a moving amount selector key is installed to change over the moving amount in pitch operation, and the robot is operated by frequently manipulating the moving amount selector key.
However, in the above configuration of the prior art, frequent changing of the speed makes the manipulation complicated. Moreover, the operator is liable to make mistakes in selecting the speed.
Further, the operator has to carry out the job frequently changing the mode to and from the continuous operation and pitch operation while still frequently selecting the operation speed and moving amount in the respective modes. Accordingly, these operations make the manipulation complicated, worsening the working efficiency, and also causes generation of faulty manipulation.
The present invention is a teaching device for robots, which serves to set the operating position and speed of a robot arm having a plurality of operation coordinates.
The teaching device comprises:
(a) a plurality of operation keys which designate one of the plurality of operation coordinates of the robot arm; and
(b) a controller which controls the operation of the robot arm,
wherein the controller has a function to control the robot arm so that the robot arm is positioned on the designated operation coordinate, and also a function to control the operation speed of the robot arm.
The controller comprises a jog dial disposed in a manner such that the jog dial can be either pushed or pulled at least and rotated.
The robot section (robot arm) performs one of the following operations:
(i) when the jog dial is rotated in a state that the jog dial is neither pushed nor pulled, the position of the robot arm is controlled by the rotation of the jog dial, and
when the jog dial is rotated in a state that the jog dial is either pushed or pulled at least, the operation speed of the robot arm is controlled by the rotation of the jog dial.
(ii) when the jog dial is rotated in a state that the jog dial is neither pushed nor pulled, the operation speed of the robot arm is controlled by the rotation of the jog dial, and
when the jog dial is rotated in a state that the jog dial is either pushed or pulled at least, the position of the robot arm is controlled by the rotation of the jog dial.
A robot of the present invention comprises the above-mentioned teaching device and robot arm.
A robot operating method of another invention is a method of operating a robot comprising a teaching device and a robot arm,
Wherein the teaching device comprises a controller having a jog dial and a plurality of operation keys, and the robot arm moves on a plurality of operation coordinates.
The robot operating method comprises:
(a) a step of selecting and manipulating one operation key from a plurality of operation keys, and selecting the operation coordinates of the robot arm; and
(b) a step of moving the robot arm to the predetermined position through one step of
(i) a step of controlling the position of the robot arm by rotating the jog dial in a state that the jog dial is neither pushed nor pulled, and a step of controlling the operation speed of the robot arm by rotating the jog dial in a state that the jog dial is either pushed or pulled at least;
(ii) a step of controlling the operation speed of the robot arm by rotating the jog dial in a state that the jog dial is neither pushed nor pulled, and a step of controlling the position of the robot arm by rotating the jog dial in a state that the jog dial is either pushed or pulled at least.
With this configuration, the number of operation keys can be decreased, making it possible to realize cost reduction and to miniaturize the teaching device. Further, the working efficiency and the operational safety may be considerably improved. In addition, it is possible to readily control the operations of the robot ranging from delicate positioning to high-speed continuous operation by serial manipulations. As a result, the working efficiency and the operational safety can be greatly enhanced.